I am not sure that this is the right Forum, but I would like to let the Ham Community know that Amazon has a fair amount of Ham Radio equipment for sale on there web site, including the Boafang HT for less then $50. They have different antennas and such. They have a good reputation. I have bought many items from them and was never disappointed. Just thought I would mention them as another source of Ham Equipment.

I actually work in the picking department for Amazon.com in one of their Fulfillment centers, picking customer orders. Yes, we do carry quite a few ham and shortwave radios. The 10% employee discount I receive always helps whenever I see something that catches my eye.

I bet that's interesting! I've ordered a handful of ham-related books through Amazon. (And a LOT of non-ham stuff.) There's a thread elsewhere on eham about how bad Radio Shack is these days, but with online competition, it shouldn't be a surprise. With Amazon, you've got a great selection, good online shopping system, great prices, fast shipping, and a fantastic return policy. What's not to love?

I've got a family owned hardware store near me, and I buy ALL my hardware there--I want them to stay in business forever. Same for books I can pick up at the non-chain bookstore a few miles from me. But for stuff that has to be ordered, Amazon is great--and I've been using it at least a dozen years now.

I signed up for Amazon Prime a couple of years ago and it has paid for itself 10x over. For Amazon Prime eligible items you get free second day shipping or $3.99/item next day shipping. I, too, have purchased many ham radio and electronic related items from Amazon and I am a very satisfied customer. If you buy more than a couple items a year, do look into Amazon Prime membership. It will save you a lot on shipping in the long run.

We are a company that is definitely constantly growing and moving. We are approaching our "peak" season where we gear up for the Christmas orders. We will be very busy from about the beginning of November until the first few weeks of January. It is insanity squared during peak, but also a good opportunity to make a lot of money from overtime. We are not allowed to use any vacation time from about November 24-December 26, it has to be personal time only. We are not supposed to work over 50 hours per week without supervisor approval, but we can work 60 hours during the peak season. One of the neat parts of my job is getting to see new items, such as books and DVD's, before they can legally be released for sale on the street. You name it, I've seen it. There are things we sell that I wish we didn't, but to each his own as they say. I haven't seen a great deal of ham transceivers where I work, short of the China models that have already been mentioned. We do carry a lot of the shortwave radios and scanners that are sold by some of the ham outlets. We carry VHF marine radios by companies like Icom, Yaesu, Cobra, and Uniden. I just always try to remember that there is a customer on the other end of what I am picking. I always try to handle every item as if I were the person on the receiving end of the order. We are definitetly a "customer centric" company. There are many changes I would make on the employment end that I won't get into on the forum.

Amazon's prices seem about 5% higher than other stores for the same item.

The trick is to put a book in your cart and then leave it there for a few weeks or longer. Typically prices fluctuate significantly over the course of a few days or even 24 hours. For example, sometimes a discount will be 25 percent one day and then 35 percent the next.

Amazon's prices seem about 5% higher than other stores for the same item.

The trick is to put a book in your cart and then leave it there for a few weeks or longer. Typically prices fluctuate significantly over the course of a few days or even 24 hours. For example, sometimes a discount will be 25 percent one day and then 35 percent the next.

It depends on whether the book has published. For example, I preordered the 2013 WRTH, and if the price has declined at the time it's ready to ship, then I automatically get the lower price. But if the book has already published, then you need to place the order as soon as it hits the price you're willing to pay because that price won't stick.

Having Prime is helpful because it gives you more flexibility. Suppose that you wanted to order the ARRL Operating Manual, and you find that it's suddenly discounted to $19.99. If you don't have Prime, you'd have to either pay a few bucks for shipping or try to find enough other products to get your order over $25, where free shipping kicks in. But with Prime, you get free shipping at any price. The only catch is that the book or product must be Prime-eligible. Many radio books are, in my experience.

I love Amazon and have never had a problemwith billing or receiving any purchases.At Amazon I was even able to find somelong discontinued "Bulldog" type breakersfor my home's ancient breaker box. (I have since completely replaced thatbox with a brand new modern one, butfinding those "Bulldogs" at a reasonableprice was not easy till Amazon!)

I remember not too long ago that Amazon was about buying books online. Now it is anything you can think of. I really like the MP3 department and ability to legally download just about any music that has ever been released. And I can move the music to any computer without restrictions. Prices are sometimes higher. It seems to be a game I have to play to go to Amazon or eBay.Fred

Not all merch on Amazon is under their control, there are a lot of individual marketers that use Amazon as their front door. like eBay but a little better control IMPHO. I have not had a claim, or noticed any major discreptancy between ordering from an Amazon corporation warehouse and an affiliate.

I suspect they do a better job of policing the fringe elements off their site than, ahhh, others.

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